National charity funding cut by £100,00 after failing Falkirk Council targets

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A national charity working in Falkirk has seen its budget cut by £100,000 per year after failing to meet its targets to help local families.

Aberlour's Family Support Centre has now combined with the charity's early years outreach project to deliver services, members of Falkirk Council' s Scrutiny Committee heard.

The committee was looking at several reports detailing the value of various services for children and families that Falkirk Council helps to fund. Read more: Consultation on move for Falkirk school from building 'not fit for purpose' Aberlour's early years outreach service supports families where there are issues including child development concerns, parental ill-health and well-being, difficulty with parenting, domestic abuse and substance abuse.Members were told that while the service was very helpful to the parents it supported, the numbers reached were well below target for a second year running.Significant resources had been taken up by one service in particular - Play Together, Learn Together - while continued staff absence meant that the early years outreach support was limited.The report to members was also critical of the fact that, rather than help families for a short time to get back on track quickly, continued support was being provided for more than a year in some cases.This meant that the average waiting time for families needing the outreach service was 81 days, with the longest waiting time 290 days.Aberlour's family centre in Langlees - which offers social, emotional, behavioural and mental health support - had an average waiting time of 76 days, with the longest waiting time recorded as 335 days.Members heard that council officers worked with the charity to restructure both services to